“Umbra… carry me.” his master commanded, holding her arms out. Her vampire-like skin even paler than he expected.
He watched her carefully. A day, only a day passed since she massacred a few thousand people and she already started to feel the repercussions. Her eyes held almost no life. They constantly flickered in their brightness. If he didn’t help her now, she would collapse.
Eager to assist, he squatted down to allow her to climb onto his back. He started off from the edge of the woods where they rested and went toward the teleportation point. The trip would take a few days on foot but Umbra didn’t mind. He silently walked, effortlessly carrying his master on his back.
“I told you not to use too much of your energy,” he scolded her. “Eager or not to test your strength, you should know that using so much of your power after just awakening would take a heavy toll on your body. Had I not kept the girl distracted, you could have been injured.”
“Haaa,” she sighed whether, from annoyance or the effort of speaking, Umbra assumed the latter. Never before did she rely on him to carry her. “You know… we needed to do something to get the stupid king’s attention. Otherwise, the man might never move his damned soldiers away from the teleporter.”
Umbra’s mouth twitched. He debated on whether or not to voice even more of his concerns, “And he might not even now.”
“Oh he will,” she muttered weakly as if she were fighting against sleep. “Who would’ve thought that my little doll would’ve still been fighting.”
Umbra stayed silent. Yesterday, a few hours after his master Erika sent a survivor to relay a message to the king, she toyed with the surviving knight for a few hours. The knight who held the possessed bow. As luck would have it, while Umbra was away, scouting the area in case there were other survivors, the knight snuck out while his master fell asleep. Or, at least, that’s what she said.
“Hey…” his master murmured, slowly drifting off. “Do you not believe me when I say she snuck away?”
“I do not,” he said. He waited for a moment, waiting to see if she would respond. When he looked at her again, her eyes were closed in a deep slumber. “I suppose you decided that her current condition was enough to get the king to act… Hopefully, the foolish king links the teleporters before we arrive.”
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Lelia arrived just moments after the soldier did. She saw him scurry up the stairs like a rat and followed with whatever strength she could muster. Although Lelia spotted her fellow soldier while on her return trip to the kingdom, she kept him at a distance. Instincts told her to go as fast as she could, not so she could inform the king but so she would be as far away from the green headed monster as possible.
However, seeing another man alive made her fearful. What if he was a pawn, someone placed by the green haired demon to lure her in? Lelia decided it was safer to watch from afar and kept at a distance.
She often checked the stitches all over her body and on her mouth. She wanted to remove all of them but couldn’t do so because she would lose too much blood. The stitches in her mouth were the first to go. She cut them apart with a knife she found when she quickly scavenged the bodies of her fellow men.
In the days of her freedom, being alone in the wilderness only served to increase her unease. Each time she lost track of the officer she followed, she’d pull out her lone weapon and spin around in circles forever, paranoid an attack would occur at any moment.
Truthfully, although she didn’t even tell this to herself, she knew that if she ever met the demon girl again, she would rather take her own life than to become a subject to the girl’s sadistic games again.
Upon seeing the walls of the capital that blocked out the early sun, Lelia fell to her knees, tears on the verge of streaming down her face. Then, it struck her. What if she was the bait? What if she had led the green haired girl to the capital?
She could hardly bear the thought. She prayed to Mequai, the goddess of her kingdom, for the first time in her life. Please let it not be false hope.
After reaching the top of the steps and walking into the palace after quickly confirming with the guards, she met with the king. He sat back in his chair, leaning his head against one arm looking disgustedly at the officer kneeling before him.
The crown on his head was still there, the clothes he had on were free of dirt, not a single speck of dust rested on his lap, nor was he bruised or battered. His eyes had the audacity to feel disdain, his lips curled into a kingly, proud, arrogant frown.
An unannounced hatred entered Lelia and those thoughts poured in when he said, “Link them,” all the while ignoring the cries of the officer.
“Lelia?” the king looked at her incredulously, and then back to the officer. “You lied!”
The officer’s eyes filled with terror as he saw her. “Y-you... Y-You’re alive!” he fell from his kneeling position onto his back and backed away, his dirty hands slipping on the cold stone floor.
Lelia realized what his horror meant. He wasn’t with the monster. She dropped to the ground, and her next bout of strength was driven by whatever little pride she had left. “Your majesty,” she yelled, catching his attention before he could sick his guards on the terrified officer. “What he said was true. E-everyone is dead!”
The king knit his eyebrows and stood up from his seat, “It’s true?”
She nodded hastily. The king had to believe her. He had to. “The girl… she broke my bow.”
He groaned and placed his hand over his head, “Is that so? Lelia, you and the officer have done your duties. Rest now.”
Upon hearing his words, her legs lost all their strength and she fell flat on her butt. Her breathing calmed and darkness swallowed her. In her last moments of lucidity, the king spoke softly to his men, “Call on Sir Gethal, Sir Jarlek, and General Issthac. Send 10,000 men back here.
“That’s not enough…” Lelia managed to say, but her words fell on deaf ears.
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Umbra watched the army from a distance, his master sleeping under a nearby tree. The masses of bodies hardly moved. Light trails of smoke, almost invisible from where he stood, rose from inside the camps.
Umbra sent a sideways glance at his master before taking possession of a small bird above. Using its ability to naturally blend into the forest, he landed on a branch and observed the camp from much closer. The men who strayed away from the camp, played games, often with cards and with many watching.
Every now and then, when a man won, groans and cheers filled the crowd. Coins exchanged hands and new players stepped in. Umbra, with a mild interest, sat on the branch for a while longer. Once the rules of the game made themselves clear, he took off to explore the camp.
He didn’t hesitate to use the innocence of the bird to peek inside of the tents. However, nothing of interest was present inside. Only the armor and weapons of the men who deemed them unneeded in the current situation.
Taking to the air, more camps became visible to him. Some hid deeper in the forest while others were being taken down. In each of the camps he saw, there always stood a lone white tent far larger than the rest. Umbra flew at the camp which took down their tents. Perhaps he would hear something there.
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Spotting the white tent, Umbra chose to land on an arrangement of boxes near a corner of the tent. A man dressed in leather armor with a piercing on his long elf ear entered, carrying a scroll.
“General Issthac, the king authorizes the use of the short ranged teleportation crystals.”
“Is that so,” General Issthac rubbed his chin. “The situation is grave enough that his majesty requires more men… Even Sir Gethal and Sir Jarlek are coming, correct?”
“Yes, sir.”
Umbra titled his head, staring closely at the messenger’s ears. There was no mistake the man was an elf but the general was not. Humans and elves working together. It was a scene he thought he would never see.
The very sight of a human using magic was already odd enough when he first saw it.
“Then please relay the message to start the crystals. Their charges should be at a capacity to take my men by now correct?”
“Yes general,” the messenger bowed. “I will tell the mage immediately.”
“To send 10,000 men back when we just activated the teleporters at your command… What are you thinking Neon?” the general immersed himself in the map on the table.
Umbra flew off, slightly disappointed. 10,000 men being sent back wasn’t a laughing matter. The sudden retreat of that many men in any army would be a great loss, yet, thousands more remained. He hoped that more would have returned home upon hearing that 4000 or so men were killed by a single duo.
What a foolish king indeed.
For the king to have caused him and his master a great deal of trouble, he was truly foolish.
Umbra returned his consciousness back into his original body. He glanced over at the tree where he left his master.
“Beside you.”
He turned to his right. She, once again, sat on a boulder dangling her feet over the edge. Much of her color had returned as well as the uninterest in her eyes. She leaned back, using her arms as support.
“10,000 men are returning,” he said without her needing to ask. He knew what she wished to hear.
“That’s a lot less than I was hoping,” a childish frown took over her face. “I’d like to fight the remainder but it seems I’m still a bit rusty.”
Umbra tried to warn her against it, “Erika-”
“I know,” she stopped him. “If there are any more people with cursed weapons like that girl back there, then I could get hurt. I won’t fight.”
Umbra breathed a sigh of relief. His reckless master wouldn’t be doing another reckless thing just after recovering after all. It was a servant’s dream come true. He could almost rest easy knowing she said that.
“Besides, if I killed too many people, that stupid angel might notice and fly over.” she kicked at the air with her bare feet. “I never want to see him again until I get the crystal. Then I’ll tear his goddamned wings off and have him taste what it’s like to be mortal.”
“That is a good plan.” Umbra agreed, nodding.
“Only because you don’t want me massacring another group of people. You never were one for mindless killings.”
Umbra stayed silent.
“There’s no need for you to say anything. I already know you well enough,” she laughed playfully. “There seem to be some other complications with my powers, but it won’t be an obstacle. Umbra, carry me.”
He squatted down and she hopped on his back. “What is the issue with your magic,” he asked.
“It recharges slower than I assumed. Not something we have to worry about so long as we don’t come across anyone as strong as Aprus or something. Another army would be a little annoying.”
“So we are sneaking past those elves and humans down there,” Umbra knew the answer but asked out of politeness.
“Mhm. I still find it odd they’re working together. I suppose that a city built on the ruins of another would definitely have some of the culture huh?”
“It certainly would,” Umbra said. “If you’re bored, we could play a game,” he suggested.
“A game?” his master sounded a bit more excited than usual. “What kind of game?”
“Some kind of card game. I can teach you the rules once we make our stop,” with that statement, Umbra walked until night hit. Nearing the teleporters, each step he took was accompanied by his full attention.
Using the trees as cover, he slipped past multiple patrols while carrying his sleeping master on his back. Umbra could easily take out the patrols but it would raise suspicion so he reasoned against it.
He roughly remembered where the teleporter was so he continued in that direction. The increasing security in the number of guards posted also helped to confirm what he remembered to be true.
As he neared the teleporter, the number of guards increased exponentially. Since the ruins were surrounded by trees, the generals must’ve thought it was best that a large number stayed watching over it at night.
With the dense foliage, it would be easy for any competent thief or the like to sneak past usual guard numbers.
He scanned the area dozens of times and concluded it would be too difficult to attempt to sneak by without being spotted. Umbra decided a spell would be best and cast it around Erika and himself.
Now, as nothing more than apparitions, he strode through the gaps in the soldiers with confidence. Passing by a few large chunks of pillars and stones, most likely from a building that used to reside there, he reached the teleporter.
A large magic circle powered by a single blue crystal in the middle.
He gave the area a once over just to make sure. Gathered in a pile were bodies of hardened clay. The golems which used to watch over the teleporter. Umbra thanked the elves and the humans for their usefulness.
“Who goes there!”
A voice echoed behind him.
“Identify yourself,” the man screeched.
Umbra’s mood shifted. He turned around and examined the mage. Under the light of the moon, he saw simple white robe befitting that of a magic caster. How boringly average. “Be quiet,” Umbra commanded. His shadow split into two and shot toward the mage.
Before he could react, they were upon him, his throat slit before another word formed. He sunk to the ground, lifeless.
“Consume,” he ordered. The magician’s body was slowly absorbed by the earth. “Let us travel to the northern continent,” he whispered to his master. “It is time we take back what’s yours and punish those gods.”
He stepped into the teleporter, and all traces of them in the northern continent was then only in memory of those they terrorized.
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Author’s Note: Dang. I’m sorry that this chapter took so long. I’m sure it’s not from a perspective all of you wanted to see but it’s a necessary story element. If all goes well, we’ll be back in Rainen or Ellar’s perspectives in a chapter or two.
Also, I should have said earlier but my reason for not posting in the past few weeks was because of a camping trip I had. I could have posted a few days ago but I was tired out from it. Anyways, the next chapters should come out a bit faster than usual.
If you liked it, please leave a comment or a rating. Ratings are just helpful in general, especially if accompanied by an advanced review.